1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an arrangement for moving elements of a multi-leaf sliding wall, or sliding door, or the like, into a parking or storage magazine, with a guide rail, said guide rail being configured with a course or extent that corresponds to the condition when said sliding wall is in the closed or extended condition, that is, in other words, when the wall elements are disposed one after the other in a line, and with a storage or parking rail which branches from the guide rail in the region of the storage or parking magazine, whereby a drive assembly is associated with each element of said wall or door, which drive assembly is connected to the corresponding element and which is configured and capable to perform a traveling motion.
2. Background Information
Federal Republic of Germany Patent No. 942,965 of May 9, 1956 describes an arrangement of this type which utilizes a single track guide rail of light-duty construction and with a switch, by means of which switch the first guide roll of each element entering into the storage magazine can be guided onto the storage rail. The drives cited as to state of the art for moving the individual elements into the storage, or parked, position are not provided for in this reference. Such drives are very necessary, however, in the case of heavy-duty elements of modern construction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,236 issued to Karhu on Feb. 18, 1992 and entitled, xe2x80x9cPivotable glazing for a balcony,xe2x80x9d relates to an enclosure for a balcony, said enclosure being configured with individual glass elements, with the individual glass elements being respectively mounted and moveable in hanging or pending attitude in a double-track ceiling rail, by means of forward and rearward rollers. By means of a storage rail which branches from the ceiling rail, the individual glass elements can be brought into a storage position or park position and they can be swung through an angle of 180 degrees for the purpose of cleaning, or for the purpose of turning, so as to present the corresponding heat-reflective and coated face in an outward direction, said coated face or surface being provided on one side of a glass element. The glass element that is nearest to the wall of the balcony is guided in this by an additional storage rail which branches from the ceiling rail, and this element has linkages at its free ends for selectively joining corresponding linkage connections in the region of the wall of the balcony. The glass elements are moved manually. Specific drive arrangements are not provided.
Federal Republic of Germany Patent Publication No. 197 27 928 A1, filed on Jul. 1, 1997, discloses a sliding wall guided on a slide rail; and two storage rails branch from the guide rail of the sliding wall in the region of the parking magazine, whereby in order to achieve a tight abutment of the first sliding wall element at an adjacent wall, the first sliding wall element is guided with its forward and rearward carriages by that one of the two storage rails that is disposed nearest to the adjacent wall. All other sliding wall elements in the parking magazine are guided by that carriage whichxe2x80x94when considered in parking directionxe2x80x94is the rearward carriage, to move along the mentioned storage rail; and they are guided by the second rail by way of a carriage which, in the direction of parking, is the forward carriage. The drive arrangement of the first sliding wall element is disposedxe2x80x94when considered in parking direction (opening direction)xe2x80x94in the forward region of the sliding wall element, while the drive assemblies of all following sliding wall elements are disposed in the rearward region of the sliding wall elements. The foregoing solution ensures a tight seal of the first sliding wall element at an adjoining wall, but it requires the provision of two storage rails which branch from the guide rail.
Because drive assemblies of heavy-duty construction need to be provided for sliding wall elements and the like, the invention sets out from such an arrangement.
Thus, it is the object of the invention, with use of drive assemblies associated with each element, to provide a solution for the storage of the individual elements in a storage or parking magazine, in which, on the one hand, a tight seal of the first element with the adjacent wall or the like is achieved and, on the other hand, there need not be provided a second storage rail.
The invention teaches that this object can be achieved by a partition system to divide a portion of a first space into a space smaller than said first space, said partition arrangement comprising: a plurality of wall elements comprising: a first wall element; and at least one second wall element; each one of said plurality of wall elements comprising: a first edge and a second edge spaced at a distance from said first edge; a plurality of suspension elements comprising: a first suspension element configured to suspend said first wall element; said first suspension element being further configured to permit rotation, about an axis of rotation, of said first wall element from an extended position to a parked position; and a second suspension element configured to suspend said at least one second wall element; a first rail; said first rail being configured to dispose said plurality of wall elements one next to the other with the second edge of said first wall element being aligned with the first edge of said at least one second wall element to divide a portion of a first space into a space smaller than said first space; a second rail; said second rail being configured to dispose said plurality of wall elements in a parked position wherein said plurality of wall elements is disposed at least substantially adjacent to one another; a drive assembly for each one of said plurality of wall elements; the drive assembly of said first wall element being configured to traverse substantially exclusively said second rail to thereby move said first wall element from the parked position into the extended position in which said first wall element is fully disposed on said first rail and also from the extended position into the parked position; the drive assembly of said at least one second wall element being configured to traverse said first and second rails to move said at least one second wall element from the parked position into the extended position and also from the extended position into the parked position; and a plurality of connecting elements; each connecting element being configured and disposed between a drive assembly and its corresponding wall element; each connecting element being further configured and disposed both: to support a tension generated by its corresponding drive assembly to pull its corresponding wall element; and to support a compression generated by its corresponding drive assembly to push its corresponding wall element.
The invention also teaches that this object can be accomplished thereby that the first element (5) which is adjacent to the parking magazine (6) in the region of the free end of the guide rail is journalled so as to be rotatable (axis of rotation 9), whereby the drive assembly (8xe2x80x2) associated with the first element (5) is exclusively guided by the storage rail (7) and is connected to the first element (5), at a distance, by way of a coupling link (10), said coupling link being configured to support a tension to pull and to support a compression to push.
By way of positioning the drive assembly of the first element at a predetermined distance, and a coupling, said coupling being configured to support a tension to pull and to support a compression to push, between the drive assembly and the first element, the drive assembly can be guided at the same storage rail as each drive assembly of the subsequent elements, such that a second storage rail becomes superfluous, due to the first element having the capability to rotate.
Further embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the dependent claims.
So as to ensure a sufficient freedom of movement between the first element and the associated drive assembly, the coupling link is disposed and linked so as to be swingable at the drive assembly and at the first element, whereby the option of a swinging motion being performed by the first element is provided by way of rotational journaling of the first element immediately at the guide rail, or at a wall adjacent to the parking magazine.
It is preferred that the drive assembly of the first element is connected, via the associated coupling link, directly with a carriage of the first element, whereby the carriage of the first element is located approximately in the region of the longitudinal center of the first element.
Since the first element is connected to the guide rail, or at a wall adjacent to the parking magazine so as to be capable of performing a rotational movement, it is sufficient, in relation to the first element, to provide only one carriage, whereas the elements which follow the first element are provided respectively with a forward and a rearward carriage or trolley.
The above-discussed embodiments of the present invention will be described further herein below. When the word xe2x80x9cinventionxe2x80x9d is used in this specification, the word xe2x80x9cinventionxe2x80x9d includes xe2x80x9cinventionsxe2x80x9d, that is, the plural of xe2x80x9cinventionxe2x80x9d. By stating xe2x80x9cinventionxe2x80x9d, the Applicant does not in any way admit that the present application does not include more than one patentably and non-obviously distinct invention, and maintains that this application may include more than one patentably and non-obviously distinct invention. The Applicant hereby asserts that the disclosure of this application may include more than one invention, and, in the event that there is more than one invention, that these inventions may be patentable and non-obvious one with respect to the other.